Why Use a VPN

If you’ve been on the Internet recently, you’ve probably come across the term “VPN”. You might have even been told to get one for your own good.

Whether it’s because VPNs let you download certain content and ignore geographic restrictions, or because VPNs ostensibly provide you with greater security, more and more people are recommending VPNs for everyone, not just tech-gurus.

But what exactly are VPNs, and why should you use one? Let’s break down everything you need to know about VPN use and explore why you should consider using a VPN soon.

Table of Contents:

• What is a VPN, Anyway
• How Does a VPN Work
• Why Else Should You Use a VPN
• Conclusion

VPN stands for “virtual private network”, and that’s exactly what creates. When you use a VPN service, you benefit from a secure tunnel that connects your computer to another server through the Internet.

Your computer then accesses the rest of the Internet through this "extra" server, effectively confusing anyone who tries to track you while masking your original IP address.

How Can You Use VPN

A VPN can connect your PC or another device to a server other than your home server, which is usually the server geographically closest to your machine

You then browse the Internet via top secure browsers while using that additional server, which can be in another city, or even another country

Because your network traffic is rerouted through this new server, you might benefit from a number of advantages or extra privileges that you would have been locked out of due to your geographic location or other aspects of your original IP address.

Let’s get a little more technical. In order to understand what does a VPN hide you need to to know that whenever you connect your computer to a VPN service, your computer will behave like it’s on the same network as the VPN itself.

Therefore, any network traffic that is sent to your computer is first sent over a secure connection to the VPN. The traffic then reaches your computer after traveling through the VPN like a kind of digital tunnel.

Additional Access Through a New IP Address

By using a VPN, your computer or device benefits from a new IP address, granting you additional access or privileges compared to your regular IP address. In other words, you can use the Internet like you are present at the VPN server’s location.

All VPN servers are encrypted, so any traffic sent from your device is also encrypted. This is the main reason why you should always use a top VPN.

While using a VPN provides you with additional benefits, the extra security and masked IP address combined provide you with greater average security compared to if you accessed the Internet regularly.

Here’s a basic example:

• Say that you live in Russia but want to access US Netflix to see a favorite show
• You can use a VPN service and select a secure server based in the US
• Once connected, you can access the Internet as if you are from the US
• Since your computer will ping servers across the Internet with a US IP address
• Then, when you log into Netflix, you’ll gain access to all US content, including any content that would have been blocked were you to try to access Netflix in Russia

Benefits of VPN

Anyone trying to track your IP address will instead be routed to the VPN server you’re accessing the Internet from.

While it is still possible to tunnel through and get your true IP address, it’s much harder.

Since it’s more difficult to find your IP address, it’s harder for cybercriminals to access your personal information or attack you in other ways.

Furthermore, it’s doubly difficult for anyone, including government officials, to spy on your activities since, again, any trackers they place will be routed to be secured VPN server rather than your actual home computer or device.